1992's GREATEST HITS puts a cap on Gloria Estefan's biggest period of chart dominance, the period between her pop breakthrough with the Miami Sound Machine's frothy dance-pop hit "Conga" and her biggest solo hit, 1991's "Coming Out of the Dark." That song, alluding to the near-fatal tour-bus accident that sidelined her in 1990, was the deciding point between Estefan's Latin-pop roots and her future as an adult contemporary balladeer, making GREATEST HITS a handy summing up of the first part of her career. Along with four new recordings (including the Jon Secada co-write "I See Your Smile"), GREATEST HITS gathers 10 of Estefan's biggest hits. Although GREATEST HITS gives short shrift to the 1985 breakthrough album PRIMITIVE LOVE, including only the smash hits "Words Get In The Way" and "Conga," any halfway-serious Gloria Estefan fan already has that album. This gives the set more room for summarizing highlights from the albums that followed, from lighter-than-air dance tracks like "1-2-3" to dramatic ballads like "Don't Wanna Lose You."

Professional Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (11/27/92, p.78) - "...fails to answer the key question of whatever happened to Miami Sound Machine, but it does cram in ten top 10 hits by the heir to Karen Carpenter..." - Rating: B

Entertainment Weekly (11/27/92, p.78) - "...fails to answer the key question of whatever happened to Miami Sound Machine, but it does cram in ten top 10 hits by the heir to Karen Carpenter..." - Rating: B